An alternative slogan if you don't like that one: Someone has to win this crappy division(from alnorth)

With the beginning of a new year, it is time for the 2012 version of the Royals Repository Thread. We've got Hosmer, we've got a 2011-dominating Gordon, we've got Moose, we've got hopefully a killer bullpen, we've got a stereotypical slow slugging DH, we've got easily one of the best defensive shortstops in the AL, we've got a promising catcher in Salvador Perez. Hell, we've got offense and promising prospects galore.

We do not have starting pitching.

Oh yeah, we've also got this:

Get ready for, (as of January 2012 anyway), one of the most confusing puzzles of a baseball season in recent Royals history. Will they suck? Maybe, I don't know. Will we be given a year of 0.500 baseball? Possibly, I don't know. Will they win the division and go to the playoffs for the first time in 27 years? For the first time in a long time, it could happen, I don't know. 92 losses, 92 wins, or anything in between would not surprise a lot of us.

Everything goes here except Gameday threads and really big news. If a giant story breaks, the Royals achieve some awesome milestone, or we sign/lose a highly significant player/coach/mascot/whatever, then it might also deserve its own thread. This being Chiefs Planet, please do not clutter the board with new threads about trivial Royals news or you will only annoy those who come here for just Chiefs football. If you aren't sure and its not a Gameday thread, it goes here.

What sort of stuff often goes here? SPchief explained it well, so I'll just copy that:

Quote:

If you locate something of interest.. ANYTHING.. deals on apparel, best ways in/out of the stadium, giveaways, great stories from this season or from seasons gone by, rumors, trades, anything.... feel free to post it here.

Haven't posted here often because I'd rather read most of the takes here than offer my own, mainly because a large majority of you know baseball better than I do.

But Jebus, what in the hell is Dayton thinking? I understand you need to win now, but did this really make you considerably better? I feel like this takes us from a bad team to a below average team. Definitely don't think this makes us contenders with Detroit and I have my doubts that we can compete for a wild card, too.

Since I saw the news during the end of the SNF game, I feel like I've been punched in the gut. For the first time in my lifelong (23 yrs old) Royals fanhood, I don't feel like I can support this team anymore. I'm seriously considering jumping on the Rays bandwagon (or any team not named the Pirates, really) until either DM gets fired, Glass sells, or both things come to pass. I'm just so very tired of losing every year and I don't think 2013 will be much different.

I'm going to try to go to sleep. I'm sure when I wake up, I'll still be a dumbass Royals fan despite tonight's happenings.

Anyway, go back to discussing the trade, I enjoy all the different views.

I initially thought about this as well, but I am giving Dayton one more year of my committed fanship before I make such a decision. He has sold the farm to win in 2013-2014, and to have done so puts his job on the line. Okay Dayton, the deal is done, now it's time to put up or shut up. If Myers goes in a Brandon Wood like direction, (his propensity to the strikeout was always a concern) and the Royals make the playoffs sometime in the next two years, Moore could end up looking like a genius. Heck, I'll even take Myers turning out as a stud if it means the Royals become a legitimate competitor, we haven't had this in what, 26 years?

I initially thought about this as well, but I am giving Dayton one more year of my committed fanship before I make such a decision. He has sold the farm to win in 2013-2014, and to have done so puts his job on the line. Okay Dayton, the deal is done, now it's time to put up or shut up. If Myers goes in a Brandon Wood like direction, (his propensity to the strikeout was always a concern) and the Royals make the playoffs sometime in the next two years, Moore could end up looking like a genius. Heck, I'll even take Myers turning out as a stud if it means the Royals become a legitimate competitor, we haven't had this in what, 26 years?

But this is it, Dayton, if this doesn't work, Goooodbye.

Fair enough. Like I said, I'll probably (who am I kidding? I know I'm going to) stick with them this year. If it works, great. If it doesn't, Moore likely gets fired and I have hope again with a new GM. Which keeps me on for another 5+ years. Relationship continues....

Fair enough. Like I said, I'll probably (who am I kidding? I know I'm going to) stick with them this year. If it works, great. If it doesn't, Moore likely gets fired and I have hope again with a new GM. Which keeps me on for another 5+ years. Relationship continues....

Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but is this our rotation for 2014 as it stands now?

And yet, here we are making a trade with a team that DOES win now. And they were all too glad to do this deal. I guess that kinda disproves the idea that small markets have to do trades like this. Since - you know - Tampa just did the opposite.

The Kansas City Royals' main goal this offseason had to be to make the club into a potential 85-win team, at a minimum. In a desperately weak AL Central, an 85 win baseline puts you within variance of contention -- a little luck, a breakout or two, some ill fortune in Detroit or Chicago -- and that's about the best that GM Dayton Moore could reasonably have accomplished in one winter.

The best path to do that was to try to max out the lineup, adding top prospect Wil Myers in right field in place of Jeff Francoeur and all the outs he makes, letting new hitting coach Jack Maloof try to fix Eric Hosmer by getting his hands down, and adding starting pitching wherever possible. Instead, the Royals traded Myers for pitching help in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays featuring James Shields that might make them slightly better in the short term but at a severe long-term cost -- and it's quite possible they don't even sniff 80 wins with the pitching they just acquired, unless there's another substantial deal coming.

For Tampa Bay, this is a heist, a potential franchise-making deal that should allow the Rays to continue their run of contention on a dime for several more years as they acquire a centerpiece bat in Myers, a potential mid-rotation starter in Jake Odorizzi, and two other prospects, none of whom has more than a few days of major-league service -- meaning the Rays get six years of club control of each of them.

keithlaw ‏@keithlaw

One final thought before I sign off: Talked to a bunch of scouts/FO folks tonight. Every last one of them said the Rays came out way ahead.

That's probably a better team than in 2012. How much better? Well, what do you get out of the starters? There certainly is a much higher ceiling than for quite a while. And does the offense get recoveries from Moustakas and Hosmer without a major drop-off from anyone else?

That's probably a better team than in 2012. How much better? Well, what do you get out of the starters? There certainly is a much higher ceiling than for quite a while. And does the offense get recoveries from Moustakas and Hosmer without a major drop-off from anyone else?

Is Cain really worse than Dyson or was there an injury I'm unaware of?